A Good Night
by Black Mary Janes
Summary: Set during the Academy years. Kirk's ready for a night out, and Bones is ready to save his sorry ass. But as usual, Kirk gets more than he expected, and Bones gets to yell at him about it. But Kirk always had the last word. Kirk/McCoy friendship


**Hey guys! So this is my first time playing with the characters of Bones and Kirk (think innocently, please), so I'm still really unsure of the characters and everything on this. It was actually an open challenge over on the Star trek discussion forums from Beta Hero. She requested a friendship Bones and Kirk piece with a very specific line, which is at the very end. I was kind of at a stand still with my other story, so I tackled this. Like I said, I'm still kind of unsure, but here it is. **

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Jim Kirk was ready for a good night. He could finally shed his cadet uniform for some civilian clothes, find the cheapest, sketchiest bar in town, and drink himself silly. He didn't have any plans beyond that, but he wasn't troubled by that. He usually made it up as he went along, with favorable results. A grin broke out across his face. _Very _favorable results.

As usual, he hadn't gone far past his own door when he heard someone fall into step with him. He shook his head at the constantly disgruntled tone McCoy used to address him.

"So, where to tonight, oh fearless leader?" He grumbled. Kirk laughed.

"Why do even come?" He asked turning to his friend. "You complain the whole way there, then you don't talk to anyone while you're there, and when you finally decide leave, you tell me off for an hour."

"It's that hour of telling you off that makes it all worth it." He said darkly. Kirk just shook his head, his smile still in place.

The walk to downtown was quick, and it wasn't long before the pair was ducking into one of Kirk's favorite dives. Bones went immediately to the bar, ordering his Bud and grumbling to himself in his usual manner. Jim winked at a pair of girls at their own table, earning him one flirty smile and one irritated eye roll. He figured that girl must be related to Uhura somehow.

The blonde at the table watched him as he ordered his drink, turning to her dark-haired friend. She opened her mouth, but was cut off.

"Look Sky, you can do whatever you want, but I'm getting your sorry ass out of this one if he turns out to be jerk." The brunette didn't even look up from her book, blocking out the noise and music and interesting smells.

"You're such a spoil sport, Marta." Sky shook out her long blond curls and watched Kirk from across the room.

"Just wait for him to get buzzed, please." Marta spared him a glance before rolling her eyes again. "And remember, if he's a jerk, you're on your own."

"I'm pretty sure I can handle this one." Sky was suddenly sizing him up like an opponent rather than a lover. "He looks like he's taken a beating before."

"Okay then." She shrugged, and returned to her book.

"She's staring at me, Bones." Jim hit his friend lightly on the arm, drawing his attention to the blonde in the corner.

"Congratulations." Bones twirled the bottle around, making rings on the bar.

"She keeps flipping her hair." Kirk kept a running commentary. Bones tuned him out, deciding to indulge in a little people-watching. He could swear that the couple at the middle table were about to break up. He watched the woman getting angrier and angrier, and then she threw the salt shaker at the man, who had the decency to blink in a confused manner.

Unexpectedly, he felt something brush against his arm, and turned to see the brunette friend of the blonde standing next to him, talking to the bartender.

"Thanks, Matt." She smiled as he walked away, presumably to get her drink. She looked passed Bones to Jim, and scowled. Despite himself, Bones laughed.

"You don't like him either?" He asked, and the woman looked up, an eyebrow raised.

"I was gonna say he's a friend of yours." She said lightly. "Was I wrong?"

"I suppose not." He grumbled, and she laughed.

"Yeah, I know what you mean." She glanced back at her table, mild disgust forming in her eyes. "Your friend there in the habit of walking in and taking his pick?"

"Yeah." Bones nodded, glancing at Jim, who was still talking, despite the conversation taking place next to him. "He had a habit of getting the shit kicked of him when he picks the wrong girl, too."

"So that's why you're here?" She asked. "To get him out of those tough spots?" Bones shrugged, not denying the claim. She nodded. "Me too. Not him, obviously." She glared at Kirk, who finally decided to make a move. She watched him cross the room, shaking her head. "She doesn't always need protection, though. She's pretty feisty."

"That would be good for Jim." Bones agreed. "Someone who can dish it back to him, for a change."

Marta smiled at the bartender as he handed her a glass of pink liquid. Bones inspected it, raising an eyebrow. "I don't drink." She explained. "It's better if one of us stays sober." Again, he nodded in agreement. He was still on his first beer, after all, and probably wouldn't have another if Jim kept on the same track.

Suddenly, there was a commotion, and the pair looked up just in time to see Kirk get punched in the face by the blonde. Marta let out a bark of laughter and turned back to the bar. Bones just blinked.

"Is that what you meant when you said she didn't need protection?" He asked, watching the blonde then smack him across the face.

"Yeah." Marta nodded. "I thought you said he was smooth."

"He thinks he is." Bones shook his head as a few guys came over, all of them eager to protect the pretty woman. Sky slipped in a few more jabs at him before the guys grabbed Kirk by his shirt front. Marta rolled her eyes, stepping away from the bar.

"I'm going to break this up." She shook her head. "As stupid as your friend is, I doubt you're going to want to take him to the hospital."

"I wouldn't anyway." Bones shook his head. "I'm a doctor."

She turned back, mild surprise written on her face. "That's cool." She shrugged it off, watching as Kirk managed dodge a blow thrown at him from the biggest, angriest guy. "Still, I wouldn't want you to have to work too hard." She threw him a sly smile before slipping into the gathered group, raising her voice to yell about the insults.

"Leave him alone!" She yelled, and everyone looked down at her, wondering how such a big voice came out of her little body. "Jesus, you three attack dogs or what?" She rounded on the thugs, knowing they wouldn't touch her. "Go on, get back to whatever creeper corner you came out of. This doesn't concern you." Her tone was strict and authoritative, and they listened. She threw her friend a dirty look, looking down at Kirk with a spark of sympathy. "Come on, buddy. Don't be an infant." She pulled him up, sending Bones a look that clearly indicated that he was to come collect his friend. Sighing, he set his empty bottle down, striding over and throwing Jim's arm over his shoulder.

"Come on, man." He said, hoisting him up.

"You need to lighten up." Jim managed to spit out though the blood coming from his nose.

"I think the girl did more damage than anyone else." Bones rolled his eyes.

"Don't you ever think of trying that shit again!" Sky was in face again, pointing one long sharp finger into his chest.

"Sky, chill." Marta rolled her eyes, grabbing her friend's arm. "Are you sure you've got him, Doc?" She asked.

"Yeah, he's fine." Bones threw Jim a dirty look. "Thanks…"

"Marta Sanders." She supplied, holding out a hand.

"Leonard McCoy." He shook her surprisingly small hand, grimacing as Jim started laughing. "Shut up before I find some way to make you." He growled at his friend, who just kept laughing. He left the bar, the cool night air rushing over both of them. Jim half-walked mostly-stumbled next to him, leaning on him for support.

"That was kind of fun." Jim said. "Of all the times I've gotten my ass kicked, it was never by a girl."

"Congratulations." McCoy rolled his eyes. "Are you sure you didn't suffer any brain damage?"

"She couldn't have hit me too hard." Jim said, and McCoy let go as they waited for the traffic light to change. Jim swayed, but eventually steadied himself. The light changed, and McCoy crossed the street, heading back to campus. It was all Jim could do to keep up and not trip. Seeing this, McCoy rolled his eyes and grabbed his arm again.

"You cause more trouble than you're worth." He scolded. The walk was quick, and instead of going back to the dorms, he turned left and went towards the medical labs instead. "Do you know what kind of trouble we could get in for this? These labs are supposed to be locked after hours. That means even I'm not supposed to be in them."

"Then how do you get in?" Jim asked as they approached a door.

"I said I wasn't supposed to be in them, not that I couldn't get in." McCoy grumbled, punching his security code. The light flashed green and the door opened. "Now get in."

Jim did as he was told, following the familiar route to McCoy's lab. The doctor followed him in, opening a drawer and pulling out supplies. "You're going to need a few stitched for that cut." He said, snapping into doctor mode and running a tricorder around him. "Nothing else looks out of the ordinary except for your bruised ego." He turned back to the drawer and pulled out his hypospray. "I'm going to give you something for the pain, than I'll stitch together that cut. Looks like your friend knew what she was doing." He shot Jim in the neck, then turned back to get ready to do the stitches. "Now what did you say to make her go ape-shit like that."

"Asked her if she was a lesbian." Kirk said. Bones raised an eyebrow. "Yeah. She said something about her friend, and I asked if she would want to come along and was into that sort of thing, and she lost it. Then I asked if she was upset cause I was moving in on her girl, and then she hit me."

"You sure know how to pick 'em, Jim." He shook his head, working quickly. "Hope you had a good night, because you're going to be feeling it for a while." They were silent as he finished, and he was cleaning up when Jim spoke again.

"Here Bones." He was rustling through his wallet, pulling out a sizable amount of cash. "For your services." He said with a grin and wink. As Bones processed what he meant, Jim ran out of the room, sure that he would want to this reaction from a distance.

Bones looked at the cash, and pocketed it before running after his friend.

"Dammit, Jim! I'm a doctor, not a hooker!"


End file.
